The Legend of the Blind Bandit
by Joost Vis
Summary: This is the story of Toph, a blind girl that has been hidden away from the outside world by her parents. Slowly, Toph begins to break free from her parents, and starts learning earthbending in secret, ultimately becoming a legend... The Blind Bandit!
1. Foreword

**Foreword**

Thank you for checking out my story, 'The Legend of the Blind Bandit'! I have been working on this story for quite some time now, and the moment I post this foreword, thirteen chapters have already been written. I'm a Dutch writer, so you'll have to forgive me for possible grammar or spelling errors I make in this story as I write it down.

As you might have suspected, this story is all about Toph, the Blind Bandit. In this story, I describe how her youth could have been, and how this little blind girl grew to become the champion of the earth rumble six tournament. The story also includes some original characters that will come later on, as well as names for Toph's mother and father. For those people who want to read the story as it progresses, check this link: http://forums. . For now, I hope you enjoy my work, and please leave behind comments after you've read it! I'll gladly look up your work, too! Now, enjoy 'The Legend of the Blind Bandit'!

Joost Vis (Yorokei)


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter one: Locked Inside**

It was another, boring day in the Bei Fong residence. Even though the sun shined brightly on the immense, beautifull gardens of the ancient estate, there was nothing that made this day stand out for Toph. She couldn't really care how beautifull the daffodills looked, and how the lotus tree had grown blossoms, which made it a beautifull sight to behold. Toph couldn't see it anyway. Sure, she could smell the scent of the blossoms, and she felt the sun shine on here pale white skin, but other then that, it didn't mean that much to her. Nothing really did. She was just sitting there on the porch, waiting for something to happen. She had done so ever since she could remember, which would make it six years by now. Somehow, Toph allways had the feeling that there was more to the world then just the gardens of the estate. As peacefull as it was, and as beautifull as she reckoned it would be, it was also a very boring place, where nothing ever happened. Slowly, Toph rose up, and picked up the stick she used to find her way through the gardens. Softly, she tapped the stick on the ground. By the noise the surface made, she could tell that it was most likely soft sand, which would mean it was the path through the gardens. She followed it for thirty steps, untill the path made a curve to the left because the wall around the mansion was in the way. She gently put her left hand on the wall, feeling its structure. The surface of the wall felt unusually smooth for stone, but that was the way it was in her family: only the best for the Bei Fongs. Toph took a right, straying from the path, and following the wall with the palm of her hand. It was the closest she had ever gotten to the world outside the walls.

'She's at it again, Senya', Toph's father sighed.

'What's that?' Toph's mother, Senya, replied. 'What do you mean? She at it again at what?'

'Sliding her hand along the outer wall, and walking across the entire gardens. I tell you, I don't know why she does such a strange thing. Every day, hours and hours. Just walking alongside that wall... Why doesn't she stay indoors, like a proper lady should?'

Senya looked at her daughter. She smiled at her husband. 'Well, she's blind and she isn't able to go into the city... I guess that she's just curious about the world around her, Jahn.'

'You know very well that it's far to dangerous to let her go out into the city, Senya!', he said with anger in his voice. 'We are a wealthy family. Everybody knows us. Someone would only have to think of kidnapping Toph, and she'd be gone! She can't protect herself! She's blind!'

'But she's not helpless, my dear!', she countered. 'She might not be able to see, but that doesn't mean you can keep her locked away inside forever!'

'I can if I want to!', Jahn said, ending the conflict. 'She is my daughter and I am responsible for taking care of her!'

Senya stood up and walked away.

'Where are you going?!', Jahn asked. 'Toph stays within the walls, and that's final!'

But Senya had allready left the room, leaving Jahn alone to stew in his own juice.

Meanwhile, Toph had walked across what she estimated was a quarter of the garden.

'He should be around here...', she whispered to herself. 'Where are you, Croak?'

She took out her walking stick and tapped it on the ground.

'Grass. Figures. The garden is full of it, anyway.'

She held out her walking stick in front of her, and swinged it around carefully. The stick hit nothing but air, so she took a few more steps until her stick tapped against something that sounded hollow and smelled a bit like wood and grass mixed gently together.

'There we are... That's bamboo allright. It should be here...'

Putting down her walking stick, she run her hand trhough the bamboo weeds, and slowly down untill her fingers suddenly felt a cold, chilling liquid. She let some of it flow through her hand, and then sat down.

'I knew the pond was here... Now where is...'

'CROAK! CROAK!''

Toph suddenly giggled. 'Croak! Come here!' She quickly put some of the rice she had secretly kept during the breakfast this morning in the palm of her hand. It wasn't long before something else ended up in the palm of her hand. Something slimy and wet, but with flippers for feet and a hard, flat beak.

'Who's the cutest duckfrog in the world? That's you!', Toph said, slowly stroking the duckfrog. It stayed put, most likely waiting to get more food.

'You're my best friend, Croak', Toph sighed. 'Well, actually, I think you are my only friend. I don't get to meet that much people here. I'm not old enough to go into the city yet.'

The duckfrog let out a deep croak, as if he understood.

'Do moms count as friends, too?' Another voice said. Toph quickly stood up and, letting the duckfrog swim back into the pond again. She bowed to her mother.

'Of course they do, mother. I am sorry if I've disrespected you. It's just that... there's no-one else but you and dad, and I... well...' Toph stuttered, not finishing the sentence. Toph's mother sat down on her knees, and embraced her daughter.

'Oh, honey... I know how badly you want to have friends. I know that you are curious about what the outside world is like... But it's just not safe for you to go there yet.'

Toph whimpered. A tear dripped down her pale cheeks. It felt cold. 'But I want to have friends, too, mom... Other friends. Friends who can tell me what the outside world is like, without me having to see it with my own eyes...'

Slowly, Toph's mother took her daughter's hand and held it between hers. 'The world outside is beautifull, Toph. There is so much to see. In the city, there are markets, that carry anything you could ever want. Exotic fruits, strange items, beautifull dresses... It is a wonderfull place, but also a very dark place.'

'Why is it a dark place?', Toph asked innocently. 'Doesn't the sun shine there?'

'Yes it does, my dear!', her mother replied. 'It shines as bright as it does on our gardens. But the nature of the people that live there, can be very dark. There are people who would take you, our most precious belonging, away from us, if they knew you were part of our family. For people outside the walls will do anything, even the unthinkable, to get even a little bit of the wealth that your father has worked so hard for all his life.'

Toph's mouth fell open in awe. 'So I can't go out because it's my dad's fault?'

Her mother was shocked and surprised, and stuttered to correct herself. 'No, no it's not! It's not your fathers fault, Toph! Don't ever think that! Don't even say that to him! It would be disrespectfull! It is the fault of those who wish harm on us... and us means you, too!'

She embraced her daughter and held her very tight. 'Just promise me you won't go outside the walls untill you are old enough, dear... Please...'

Toph sighed 'I promise, mom..'.

That night, when Toph was lying in her bed, thinking of the words her mother had said.

' If they knew you are of our family, they would take you away from us!'

She muttered about these words, thinking of how unfair it was that she couldn't go outside just because people were jealous of her parents.

' Can I help it that my parents are wealthy?', she mumbled. 'It's not like I'm wealthy myself. I'm just a little kid, like any other!'

And then, it struck her.

She was just a little kid. Just like any other. And nobody would ever have to know what family she came from. She grinned to herself.

'Nobody would ever have to know who I am...'


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter two: The Other Side**

Sneaking out of the house wasn't much of a problem to Toph. She had quickly made her way to the front door, and ran into the gardens. As her heart skipped a beat, she tapped her walking stick on the ground to make herself more aware of her surroundings. She counted to herself.

'Thirty-one, thirty-two, thirty-three..'

She stopped and took a deep breath. Then, she started waving her walking stick around, untill it hit something hard. She put her left hand on the surface of the thing she had hit, and let it run across it. Putting her hand in front of her nose, she tried to figure out the scent of the thing she had hit.

'Pinetree... just as I expected. And those only grow next to the walls of the gardens. This is almost too easy', Toph grinned to herself.

Taking a part of her bedsheet she had taken along, she wrapped it along the base of the tree. After that, she put her feet on the tree, forcing her weight onto the bedsheet, making an effective rope to climb the tree with. Climbing trees was something Toph did in her free time more often, mostly under supervision of the guards to make sure she'd be safe. The fact that she was doing this all by herself now, with no help from others, made her a bit scared. But strangly, it also sent a rush through her entire body she had never felt before. The kick of doing something her parents most certainly wouldn't approve of, that was the feeling that now rushed through her veins like a cascading waterfall. After barely a minute, she had climbed up high enough to climb onto a branch, and creep towards the garden's walls.

'Allmost there...', she whispered, with an unusual amount of confidence in her voice.

Suddenly, Toph heard something. First, the sound was just silent, barely unhearable, but distinct at the same time. The branch she had been climbing was starting to crack under her weight. First, the cracks came slow and silently, but within a second, there was a snap. Toph closed her eyes, even though she couldn't see to begin with.

'Stupid, stupid, stupid!' She yelled at herself. She was now bracing the treebranch as if she was clinging onto life itself, which may have been very true. The branch snapped, and Toph started falling down to the ground. There was a soft, muted sound when Toph hit the ground. And then, there was silence.

Meanwhile, in the residence, Toph's mother had woken up from what seemed to be a nightmare. In her dreams, she had seen how Toph was getting captured in a metal cage, while she and her husband had been forced to watch. The cage was then flown away by what seemed to be a giant, furry windbuffalo with six feet. And she had been helpless to do anything against it. She woke up her husband.

'Jahn... Jahn! Please...'

Still half-asleep, Toph's father opened his eyes. 'What is it, darling... it's not morning yet, is it?'

Toph's mother sighed. 'No, my dear. I had the most awfull dream just now. Toph was kidnapped by a flying monster, and we couldn't help her... I feel so... so...'

Jahn embraced his wife. 'Relax, honey... it was just a dream. Nothing can happen to Toph as long as she stays here... And we won't let her go anywhere, will we?'

'But Jahn, she is only human! Toph longs for the outside world! You know as well as I that one day, she will want to venture outside of the walls... And I don't know if we can protect her from the dark world that lies out there...'

Toph's father looked at his wife. 'Then, we will make sure that that day doesn't come anytime soon. We will protect her untill she is grown up, an adult woman. And perhaps then, we can see if she will ever be ready for what lies outside...'

Senya got out of her bed. 'Where are you going?', her husband asked worried.

'I'm just going to wash myself up a bit. Maybe that makes me feel better.'

'Yes', Jahn replied. 'That seems like a wonderfull idea to me.'

'Maybe I'll go check on Toph, too... just to see how she's sleeping. She sleeps beautifully, you know? Just like a little butterfly amongst the cherryblossoms...'

Her husband smiled at her. 'You go do that dear... I'm sure there's nothing to be worried about.'

It took Toph three seconds before she dared to open her eyes again. Another five to find her walking stick. And just one second to figure out where she had landed.

'This is... grass... but different... it feels... kind of dry!'

She heard footsteps. Someone was coming. Quickly, she tried to hide herself under the heap of dry grass that had broken her fall. The footsteps were coming even closer.

'Hmmmm...', a male voice hummed. 'What's this. This looks like less hay then I left behind. And whats-'

'AAAA-CHOO!'

Toph sneezed so hard that her cover was instantly blown away. There she was, a girl in a fancy dress, six years old, sitting down in a haystack. Not to mention that her hair was a mess now.

'Hey!', the man shouted. 'What are you doing! You darn kids! Allways playin' hide and seek in my haystacks, aren't you?! Get out! You are ruining my business!'

Quickly, Toph got onto her feet and started running in no particular direction. She kept ticking her walking stick on the ground, even though she didn't really pay attention to what she heard, or what kind of ground she was walking on. Her heart kept raging in her chest, and she gasped for air.

'Just keep going... Just keep going!'

She repetead the sentence over and over again, until she had been running for at least two minutes. Then, she stopped, because something was happening. Something she wasn't quite used to. Hear ears heard sounds. Some sort of honking animal. The bells of a street merchant. The sound of a cart riding down an unsteady road. Instinctively, she shielded her ears. She was used to hear her surroundings, but in this case, she heard so many sounds, it was deafening to her, and it made her panic. At home, in the gardens, everything was quiet and serene. But wherever she was now, this was not the Bei Fong gardens. This was something even bigger. Something much scarier. And yet... it was somewhat more exciting.

Toph's mother came to Toph's bedroom. She slowly opened the doors, and walked towards her bed. But when she got closer to it, she realized... That her bedsheets were gone. And the bed itself was empty. Toph wasn't there. For the first time since she was born, Toph had gone missing.

'JAHN!, she shouted! 'JAHN! IT'S TOPH!'

In within a minute, her husband stood by her side in the entrance to the room. 'What's with Toph?! Has she fallen ill?!'

'No, Jahn, it's far worse!', Senya cried. 'Our beautifull girl... She's gone!'

As she collapsed to the floor, Jahn caught his wife in his arms.

'Senya! Please, Senya! Wake up!'

But it was no use. Senya had fainted. Jahn placed her gently onto Toph's bed. A handmaiden came rushing into the room.

'What is the matter, master Jahn?!'

'Toph has gone missing!', he shouted.

The handmaiden just stood there in the hallway, not sure of what to do.

'Shall I-'

'Don't just stand there!', Jahn shouted. 'Go get the authorities and find her!'

By those words, the handmaiden rushed out of the room.

'Senya', Jahn whispered. 'Don't worry... I will find our daughter. That, I promise...'

The noise got more organized. It had taken three minutes, but slowly, Toph's ears had begun adjusting to the huge amount of sound they were receiving. Carefully, she removed her hands from her ears, allowing the sounds to come in. And when she did, her stomach bursted with a strangre sensation...

'This is beautifull...', she said.

To a girl whose ears had been hearing nothing but the sound of birds and the wind for several years, this was a great surprise. She had never dared to dream such a colourfull pallete of sounds could excist in the world. She heard people gossiping, animals making noises, carts being pulled across the streets. It was a fascinating, life-changing experience for the young girl.

'I wish I could see it all...' Toph whispered to herself. 'Perhaps I should...'

She took her walking stick in her hand, and started tapping the ground. It wasn't as dry as the grounds in the gardens. It was more moist, with pieces of what she tought would be grass between it. This path had been suffering from years of usage by many, many people. To Toph, there was nothing more beautifull then this. And even though her parents would never permit her going there, she instantly knew that this was the world she wanted to be part of.

'Let's break some rules', she said with a big grin.

As she walked into the market, she felt herself becoming part of it... Part of a whole new world.


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter three: The Most Prized Posession**

The Bei Fong household was in total uproar. Young miss Toph had dissapeared from her room, miss Senya had fainted, and none of the guards knew what to do in such a situation. Some of them were running around the house, looking in every corner in the hopes this was one of Toph's rare little jokes, and that she had hidden herself somewhere just for fun, while others took to the gardens, climbing up every single tree, walking legdeep into the ponds and cutting down the beautifull bamboo weeds just to see if they could find the girl easier that way. But the chaos was not helping anyone, and only one person really realised that.

Jahn laid his wife to rest in her bed. He stroked her long hairs out of her face, and kissed her on the forehead.

'I am so sorry this should happen to us, especially to you, my dear', he said. 'I would never have thought that our daughter would actually manage to get out of her room all by herself. But...it seems I've been underestimating her.'

He looked at his wife, who was still lying very quietly in her bed, as if he wanted her to reply.

'I know what you'd say... You tried to tell me yesterday. Toph's growing up and wants to learn about the outside world, even though that's too dangerous for her. I feel like such a fool...'

Resting at her bedside, he took a peace of parchment from his robes, and looked at it.

'And I know what to do to get her back...'

If Toph's jaw could be unhinged like a snake's, then it would have been lying flat on the ground by now. The sensations that were rushed over her like a rapid river, were starting to fall in place now inside her head. What was chaos and disorder to her at first, now slowly began to feel like a more organized kind of disorder, how strangely that may have seemed. She started sniffing, untill she picked up a scent she recognized from her own home.

'Chestnutbread...freshly baken... delicious...'

Taking her walking stick, she took another deep sniff of the scent she had found amongst the other scents that were overwhelming her. Now the scent became more distinct, as if it were a path to her. A path she could follow. And since she was going to explore this strange, new enviroment, anyway, she decided to follow the scent to its source. Because all this exploring had made her hungry, after all. She took her first few steps into a big, new world.

Meanwhile, at the Bei Fong estate, a guest was welcomed into the main dining room. This room was used most of the times for dinner of course, but on some occasions, it was used as a place where the more serious conversations of the Bei Fong family could take place. The more private ones. Jahn sat at the head of the table, as his guest was directed to sit down next to him. His guest was of average lenght, with long black hair and a small moustache. He bowed, and then sat down next to Toph's father.

'Sit down, my old friend.'

The guest looked surprised, yet respectfull. 'Old friend indeed. How long has it been since our paths have crossed? It must have been-.'

'I did not invite you for a trivial talk about old times', Jahn said descisively and abrupt. 'There are much more pressing matters on my mind right now that need to be solved in a discrete manner.'

'Matters such as what, may I ask?', the guest replied, trying not to be inpolite.

Toph's father sighed, and opened a drawer from underneath the table. He took out a little, green book with a flying boar on the cover.

'I need you to find something for me', he said. 'Something irreplacable, fragile and something the world has never had any knowledge of. And shouldn't have by reason, either.'

Jahn's guest was confused. Most of the times he and his host had spoken, Jahn had been much more direct and to the point, not trying to dance around the facts. Now it seemed like he had to cover up for something.

'What is it that you want me to do, mister Bei Fong?', he decided to ask.

Toph's father opened the book. In it were several waterpaintings of the beautifull Bei Fong gardens outside, all accompanied by pictures of the flying boar, the family symbol. There were also pictures of the house, artworks that belonged to the family, and more things that had to do with the Bei Fong family. The guest looked up to Jahn.

'Is it one of your posessions that is in this book that you have lost? Must I find it?'

Jahn let out a deep sigh. 'Yes. I will now show you my most prized posession. It has gone missing this night...'

Going through the pages, Toph's father got through, untill he got to one of the very last pages of the book. The page had a picture of a beautifull, young girl, with very deep, grey eyes that looked like a lake during a full moon.

'This is my dearest posession. You need to find her. You need to find my daughter.'

Jahn's dearest posession was walking around the market, still following her nose in pursuit of the scent of bread she had picked up earlier and she was determined to find. But then, all the sudden, another scent interfered with her senses. A cart came by that smelled like.

'YUK!', Toph yelled out loud. 'What is this? What is that foul stench?', failing to notice that it had been a dungcart which had crossed her path right in front of her. Disoriented, Toph tried to pick up the scent of bread again, but she seemed to have lots of problems with that right now because the scent of manure had more or less done a number on her smelling sense for the time being. She decided she should take her walking stick, and just start walking again, and try to find the bread with her other senses. Just as she started to tap her walking stick around, she was suddenly bumped into by someone, and fell down with her face in the mud.

'HEY!', she screamed 'OW!'

Another voice also yelled. 'Watch it! Come, let me pick you up!'

Toph reached out as a hand grabbed hers, and picked her up from the mud. It had been a woman's voice, in her mid-forty's, Toph had guessed.

'You really shouldn't just stand around when you're as small as you are, little girl!', the woman said in a dictative voice. ' By all means, a girl like you shouln't be in the market at all! I almost tripped over you and could have gotten hurt!'

Wiping the mud off of her face, Toph turned towards the woman who had so rudely run into her. 'I? I SHOULD WATCH OUT?! YOU ALMOST TRAMPLED ME!'

The woman hushed that remark away, thinking not so much of it. She didn't even seem to notice that Toph was a blind, six-year old girl. 'Listen, I am Aunt Wu. I am a very important seeer and I don't have time to waste looking after little girls like you, who get lost on the market and don't look out for grownups like they should! You should have respect for your elders, and that means watching out and letting them pass as well!'

Toph's anger was reaching a boiling point, and that meant one thing: she would simply keep it in and outsmart this stuck-up piece of nobility.

'A seeer, huh? That should be interesting. A seeer that can't even see a helpless little girl in front of her very nose!'

'What do you mean? I have no time for such trivial-'

'A little girl that is BLIND, by the way? Something you also fail to notice even though you can look me straight into the eyes!'

Miss Wu was now starting to stutter, not having expected a little girl to outsmart her. 'Well, you can't deny that..'

'And you don't even SEE that it should be YOU owning ME an apology? Which is something I'm still waiting for!'

The woman shrugged. 'Well, allright then, I'm -'

Toph sniffed. 'Don't even bother saying the words. I know you won't mean them anyway. You know what, you stink. And I'm going to take a few steps aside from you before I get covered in that stench, too.'

As Toph walked away, the woman looked flustered. She was outsmarted by a girl who must have been barely six years old, and blind at that. And she had insulted her too! She was so confused that she failed to notice a cart that was backing up behind her, also failing to notice her. A cart full of...

'AAAAAAAAH!' Miss Wu screamed, as a pile of dung fell onto her and her beautifull clothes. 'MANURE! MY DRESS! MY HAIR! RUINED! WHY?!'

A few steps away, Toph was laughing to herself.

'Told you you stink...'


	5. Chapter 4

**Chapter four: Fascinating**

Silently, the stranger who had spoken to master Bei Fong, was standing outside the gates of the estate. Cleching a small piece of parchement in his hand, he was trying to come to terms with the knowledge he had just gained. He knew something. Something that, if it ever would get known to the outside world, would change the life of the Bei Fong family forever. There was a daughter to the family, one that had been sheltered away for her entire life, because of the rational fear of her parents that dubious individuals would do her harm in order to hurt the Bei Fong lineage. The name of the girl was Toph, she was six years old now, and had been blind since she was born. It was this last fact that had caused her father to grow overprotective of her, and now that same thing had caused Toph to grow curious to the outside world, which in turn had led her to escape. Looking at the picture of Toph that had been painted on the parchement one last time, the stranger made his choice. He would find the young girl, and take her back to her parents, just as he promised. And by the mention of that promise to himself, he pushed himself down the road in a rockslide.

The little girl he had been tracking just couldn't stop giggling to herself. Toph had really enjoyed handing it to that rude woman, who had thought she was worth more then Toph just because she was old and could tell fortunes. That last thing hadn't protected her from being drenched in dung, though. But Toph's senses had done just that for herself. By now, Toph was starting to realise just how much her senses could do for her. Normally, Toph would use them only inside the gardens of the estate. And even though those gardens offered a variety of hundreds of smells, sounds and surfaces, Toph had felt all those hundreds of things a thousand times and more. She had grown so familiar with them, that she hardly appreciated the fact that she could see so much without using her eyes. But slowly, her appreciation was coming back to her by experiencing all the sensations from the market. All the new sounds and smells... feeling new surfaces... it was as if her senses were opened to her, once again. And that was a feeling she didn't want to lose ever again.

Back at the estate, Toph's mother was slowly regaining consciousness. As she opened her eyes, she noticed that the handmaiden next to her bedside had fallen asleep, probably because there was not that much to worry about anyway. She didn't feel angry about it. Sitting down at her bedside, she sighed when she realised what had happened. Who went missing. That very moment, her husband came rushing in.

'Senya? SENYA!'

Jahn ran up to his wife, and took her hands 'Thank goodness you are allright...But why didn't the handmaiden-..'

Looking at the sleeping handmaiden, Jahn's eyes turned angry. 'YOU! You were supposed to look after my wife! Yet you do not even notice when she wakes up?'

The handmaiden panicked. 'I-I-I... I-m so sorry! I have no words! I can't tell you-'

'She could have been sick! She might have needed immediate attention! She could have been harmed!'

Senya tried to calm down her husband by putting her hand on his shoulder, but it was to no avail. Jahn pointed his finger at the handmaiden.

'YOU ARE FIRED! GET OUT OF MY HOUSE!'

The handmaiden walked out of the room, completely shaken and scared. When she had left, Jahn looked back at his wife.

'She should have been watching you.'

'Jahn...', she said 'It's okay. I'm fine... You shouldn't have done that... it is unfair.'

'What if I can't protect my own family, Senya?!', Jahn said. 'I've lost Toph... and I've allmost lost you...'

It was then, that Senya realised how Toph must have felt all that time. Jahn's protectiveness was a good thing... but perhaps too much of it.

Meanwhile, Toph had followed her senses and had found her way to the breadstand she had been smelling earlier. Now she had gotten there, she wasn't sure what to do. Toph didn't know much about the outside world, but she had of course learned about how the outside world was all about money, something her family had aplenty, but something that she lacked at that moment. But her trip had made her very hungry. And that chestnutbread smelled so delicious... Toph could smell that it had been baked just right, to the point where it had a small, cripsy crust, but not so crispy that one would hurt her teeth on it. And it had the right amount of chestnuts in it, too. It took the baker three minutes to notice that there was a little girl in front of his booth, just standing there, seeming to enjoy the smell of the stand itself.

'Can I help you, miss?', the baker asked kindly. Toph wasn't paying attention. She was still allowing the smells to enchant her.

'Miss?', he asked again. 'Can I help you?'

Toph chuckled. 'Oh! Sorry... eh... I'm Toph...'

Toph realised that she was meant to be hidden from the outside world, but she was pretty sure that just mentioning her front name wouldn't give anyone the idea that she was part of the Bei Fong family. And she didn't know for sure what else to say. Luckily, the baker took kindely to her, and smiled, even though Toph of course didn't notice that.

'My name is Jing. What would you like, Toph?'

Hesitating, Toph pointed at the chestnutbread. 'I would like some of that...bread... but I don't have any money.'

The baker looked around. He didn't see any parents with the little girl, something he found very strange. He also noticed the girl didn't look him into the eye, and that she carried a stick.

'You are blind, aren't you?' He asked with a warm voice. Toph blushed a bit, and nodded.

'Then shouldn't you stay with your parents, Toph?', the baker asked. 'Not that you don't seem to get along fine on your own?'

She sighed. 'I... I lost my parents.' She thought up quickly. 'But I can find them. I can find them by hearing their voices. I can hear more then normal persons, since I'm blind.'

'You mean, your hearing senses are better developed', the baker replied. 'That's fascinating.'

Toph just stood there. She had rarely had a conversation with a stranger before, and she wasn't sure how to keep up with it. Meanwhile, the bread was still smelling deliscious. The baker saw how the blind girl was sniffing up the smell of his bread, and it somehow made him feel very content with his work.

'Would you like some of that chestnutbread, Toph?'

Shily, Toph nodded. 'Yes, please... I am hungry a bit. But as I said, I don't have any money.'

The baker just smiled. 'That's okay. You get a free sample because... well, you're a very special little girl.' He handed her the bread, and Toph took it in her hands. She slowly let her hand run over it, now feeling the crust and the little pieces of chestnut on it. She tore off a small piece of bread and crumbled it between her fingers, delicately sensing the warmth and inside of the bread. The baker was looking at breathlessly.

'You know what I think, Toph?', he said. Toph looked his way, acknowledging him.

'I think that you are the most fascinating customer that has ever come to my stand.'

Toph smiled and took a bite of the bread, which tasted just as good as she had imagined. It was perfect.

'Thanks for the bread, mister Jing', she said politley. 'I will pass on your kidness to my family, so that they will come here more often.'

'But your family doesn't have the time to waste on something as civil as a market, young miss...', a snobby, yet dictative voice said. Toph allmost dropped the bread, and turned around to face the person behind her. Jing the baker fell silent.

'Master Yu?', he replied. 'What does an earthbending teacher like you want from Toph?'

Master Yu grinned with menacing glee. 'This little girl has strayed too far from home...'

Toph hunched backward, and clenched her arms around her loaf of bread as if she wanted to protect it. But in fact, she was more concerened with protecting herself. And she found a new sensation that she didn't like that much: sweating in panic.

'Come on Toph', master Yu said sleekly. 'Let's go home...'


End file.
